Hampshire-born James Blunt makes hilarious 'threat' to Spotify in protest over Joe Rogan

Rock icon Neil Young made headlines after requesting that his songs be removed from the streaming platform this week.

He made the request to Spotify in protest over podcaster Joe Rogan, who he claimed was promoting anti-vaccine misinformation on his popular show.

The vast majority of his music has now been removed from the streaming platform, baring a few tracks.

Joni Mitchell has followed suit and asked for her music to also be wiped from Spotify.

The Grammy award-winning singer said the streaming giant was allowing ‘irresponsible people’ to spread lies that were ‘costing people their lives’.

Mitchell also shared an open letter signed by a coalition of medical professionals calling on Spotify to take action against ‘mass-misinformation events’ occurring on its platform.

SEE ALSO: Who were the latest guests on the Joe Rogan podcast?

Chart-topper James Blunt, who was born in Tidworth, Hampshire, has gone in the opposite direction and threatened to release new music if the streamer refuses to remove Joe Rogan’s podcasts.

The You’re Beautiful singer is famed for his dry sense of humour and poking fun at himself on social media.

He tweeted: ‘If @spotify doesn’t immediately remove @joerogan, I will release new music onto the platform. #youwerebeautiful’.

Following Young’s reported concerns Spotify said it aimed to balance ‘both safety for listeners and freedom for creators’ and had removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic.

It acquired The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020, reportedly for more than 100 million dollars (£77m).

Stand-up comedian Rogan, 54, has previously attracted controversy for suggesting the young and healthy should not get vaccinated.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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